Latest ‘Sofia The First’ Special Nets Regal Numbers

Here’s proof that time-shifted viewing and a target demo whose schedules are horribly unpredictable (at least in a certain Deadline editor’s house) equals victory: Disney said today that its Disney Channel special Sofia The First: The Floating Palace was watched by 7.6 million total viewers last week based on Live+7 ratings, making it the second-most-watched telecast in cable TV history in the kids 2-5 demo and No. 1 in scores of other preschool demos. The only show to beat it? The Sofia The First movie (8.2 million viewers) that officially launched the princess franchise in November 2012. The audience for Floating Palace more than doubled in the time-shifted metric in kids 2-5 (2.63 million vs. 1.10 million) and girls 2-5 (1.85 million vs. 706,000), and grew double digits in total viewers (7.62 million vs. 4.72 million), adults 18-49 (2.15 million vs. 1.40 million) and women 18-49 — aka moms — (1.43 million vs. 911,000). At least around here, our own personal Nielsen viewer watches episodes multiple times and almost never when they’re actually on TV unless by accident, so these kinds of numbers make sense — though the viewership numbers are impressive nonetheless.